Automatic stop motion for automatic weapons



May 30, 1961 c. L. GODAR AUTOMATIC .sToP MOTION FORAUTOMATIC WEAPONS Filed Feb. 24. 1959 INVENTOR CHARLES LOUIS GODAR United States Patent'flfi ice 2,986,073 Patented May 30, 1961 AUTOMATIC STOP MOTION FOR AUTOMATIC WEAPONS Charles Louis Godar, Paris, France, assignor to Etude et Realisation dOutillage de Precision C. L. Godar et Cie., Courbevoie, France, a corporation of France Filed Feb. 24, 1959, Ser. No. 795,163

Claims priority, application France Feb. 24, 1958 1 Claim. (CI. 89-27) My Patent No. 2,948,194, issued August 9, 1960, relates to a trigger device or mechanism for automatic weapons which permits an automatic limitation of the number of shots fired per volley.

With this purpose in view it is an essential object of this invention to provide a toothed member displaceable stepwise, with each displacement being related to each cycle of operation of the weapon and being adapted to count the shots, this member being adapted after a predetermined number of shots to break the operative connection between a trigger and a trigger release, and therefore interrupts the firing.

According to a first embodiment described in the aforesaid patent the toothed member is adapted to break the operative connection between the trigger and the trigger release member by acting upon a movable block disposed between these two members, and according to another embodiment described in the aforesaid patent, the trigger and trigger release system comprises a lug connection of a type conventional in small arm construction, the trigger release member consisting in both cases of the usual pivoting type.

Now it is the essential object of this invention to bring in the volley-limiting device of the type broadly described hereinabove a modification concerning more particularly the trigger and trigger release assembly, whereby the trigger and the auxiliary member or block by which it is connected to the trigger release constitute an assembly actuatable and operating by translation.

This specific form of embodiment is characterized essentially in that the trigger and the auxiliary connecting block mounted for longitudinal sliding movement or translation in the trigger body constitute a compact or unitary assembly and are operatively interconnected on the one hand resiliently so as to constantly urge said auxiliary member in the forward direction relative to the trigger, and on the other hand rigidly through the medium of a pawl adapted to permit the re-engagement of said auxiliary member for driving same towards the trigger, said pawl being furthermore arranged in such a manner as to be responsive to the shot-counting toothed member with a view to permit the escape or release of said auxiliary member and stop the firing under the conditions contemplated beforehand.

A specific and exemplary form of and embodiment of a trigger and trigger-release mechanism according to this invention for an automatic stop motion device for antomatic weapons will be described hereafter with reference to the attached drawing wherein the single figure shows diagrammatically and in isometric perspective view the mechanism extracted from the arm casing.

In the drawing, the trigger body 1 is shown as having a generally parallelipipedic shape with a front face 2 curved to receive the users finger of which the pressure is exerted in the direction of the arrow 3 in which the trigger body is guided for longitudinal movement in the casing (not shown).

In this example the trigger body is guided for one part at the level of its lower edge by means of a longitudinal groove 4 formed therein and co-acting with a tenon 5 projecting on a member 6 secured in the casing and having anchored thereon one end of a traction spring 7 of which the opposite end is attached to a rear depending lug 8 solid with the trigger body, as shown, so that the spring 7 will constantly urge the trigger body in the forward direction.

As its upper and rear portion the trigger body is formed with a longitudinal cavity 9 of which the cross-sectional shape is adapted notably to permit the sliding mounting of the auxiliary member 10 engaged therein from the rear and adapted on the other hand to provide a mechanical connection between the trigger body and the pivoting sear 1 1.

To this end the auxiliary member '10 carries an integral pin 12 emerging transversely from a lateral slot '13 formed in the trigger body, thin pin 12 co-acting with the depending leg 11 of the sear which lies in a vertical plane offset laterally relative to that of the trigger.

The auxiliary member 10 is furthermore constantly urged in the forward direction in the trigger body by a traction spring 14 interconnecting these two parts, but only to a certain extent so that when the trigger is also in its from position a pawl 15 pivoted in the trigger body cavity will engage a notch 16 formed in the upper edge of the auxiliary member 10. This pawl-and-notch connection is operative in one direction to enable the trigger body 1 to carry along the'auxiliary member 10 towards the sear.

From the above description it will be readily understood that during the operation of the weapon the return or forward movement of the auxiliary member 10 is shorter than that of the trigger body 1, this limitation in the travel of the auxiliary member 10 being obtained for example by means of stops (not shown) of which one is formed in or carried by the casing, or by forming one or more slots in the lateral shells of the casing, this slot being engaged for example by the pin 12.

Under these conditions it is also apparent that the return spring 7 of the trigger body 1 must be stronger than the return spring 14 of the auxiliary member 10. On the other hand, the pawl 15 is formed on its upper face with a cam face 15 engageable by a depending lug 17 of the shot-counting toothed member 18, this lug 17 sliding freely in the upper portion of the longitudinal cavity 9 and being adapted under certain conditions to disengage the pawl 15 from the notch of member 10. The lug 17 and the member 18 comprise an escapement control means cooperating with the pawl 15 to disengage it from the notch of the member 10.

From the foregoing the operation of the mechanism may be readily understood, this mechanism being shown in its operative conditions in the drawing.

When the mechanism is inoperative, the trigger and auxiliary member assembly is in its front position and the pawl engaged in the notch of member 10, so that when the operator depresses the trigger in the direction of the arrow 3 this assembly is displaced as a unit in this direction, the pin 12 causing the sear 11 to rotate counter-clockwise so that its head 11 will release the breech or other percussion member of the weapon according to the type of weapon on which the device is mounted. After a predetermined number of shots, as the operator continues to depress the trigger, the toothed member 18 which has been moved by one tooth pitch in the direction of the arrow 19 upon completion of each cycle of operation engages with its depending lug 17 the pivoted pawl 15, thus enabling the spring 14 to pull the member 10 forwards. As a consequence of this release the sear 11 may resume its initial position and the firing is stopped automatically. Thus, the operator cannot fire another volley unless he first releases the detent so as to enable the pawl 15 to re-engage the auxiliary member 10,'whereupon the trigger device resumes its initial conditions as set forth hereinabove. Regarding the return of the toothed member to its initial position, it may be obtained as in the case of the devices described and illustrated in the aforesaid patent, by utilizing the return movement of the sear or of the trigger body to its inoperative position for disengaging another pawl adapted, during the operation of the weapon, to lock the toothed member upon completion of each displacement thereof.

I claim:

A firing mechanism for automatic Weapons of the type having an escapement control means connection between a trigger and a scar, comprising a trigger body mounted for movement of translation, a sear, an auxiliary member slidably mounted in the trigger body for forward and rearward movement, spring means connected oetween the trigger body and the auxiliary member for moving the auxiliary member into a forward inoperative position, a pawl connection between the trigger body and the auxiliary member for holding the auxiliary member in an operative rearwardposition relative to the scar and fixed in such position for movement with the trigger body, means carried by the auxiliary member for actuating the sear when the auxiliary member is in an operative rearward position, escapement control means for disengaging the pawl from the auxiliary member to permit the spring means to move the auxiliary member to an inoperative forward position with respect to said scar and spring means acting on the trigger body to return it to a forward position with respect to the sear, said return stroke of the" auxiliary member being less than the return stroke of the trigger body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

